What Is at the Table?

Psalm 23:5a (KJV)
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

 Someone once said that two of the most valuable tools God ever gave to man were “memory” and “imagination.” Memory to look back on; imagination to look forward to. Unfortunately, sometimes believers tend to shy away from each because of two often-quoted scriptures that emphasize “forgetting what is behind…” (Phil 3:13) and “Casting down imaginations… (2 Cor. 10:5). While both reflect important truths for us to follow, they do not reflect a fullness of the value of both memory and imagination in our lives.

In this post, we will center on “imagination.” One well-known minister of the gospel calls the Bible a “picture book.” That is an accurate description in one way, because much of what we read about cannot be seen in the natural world. Using the gift of imagination – the ability to create pictures in our minds – can be very helpful in bringing revelation of God’s Word to us.

The imagery found in the Twenty-third Psalm is a case in point. Verse 5 makes a simple statement: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” We can take this verse and by creating a picture in our minds of what that table might look like, it can help us receive revelation that can be used to remind us just how close God is to us when we are facing a challenge.

We can begin creating a picture by looking at each word. “You” refers to God. It is God, our loving Heavenly Father, who prepares the table. Think about what kind of a table God would prepare for His children. Certainly, it is one that is very large and filled with good things from one end to the other. “Before me” tells us this table is personal, it has been set for each one of us; individually, we are the guests of honor at our own personal table.  This table is found “in the presence of my enemies.” At first, we may not be so enthused about who is joining us at the table. But could this be good news? Absolutely, because God has summoned our enemies to the table, and that is not going to bode well for them.

So, the guests are gathered, and we are seated. What remains in creating our picture is to think about what is actually on the table. Think of a huge dining table filled with a myriad of brilliantly colored serving bowls, each one representing a promise of God found in the Bible. There’s a bowl labeled “healing,” and inside it, there are all the healing verses found in scripture. There’s another bowl labeled “deliverance,” another labeled “no condemnation,” another, “prosperity,” and the list goes on.

There is only one thing left to do, and that is partake of the feast. We must see ourselves sitting at the table.  Every time we take a serving from one of the bowls while seated in the presence of our enemies, they shrink and cower in their seats. We, on the other hand, receive strength with each bite we partake of.

God gave us an imagination to see things not yet evident in the natural realm. When we stay within the parameters of what the Word promises, it can be a powerful tool to get us from the “amen” to “there it is!”

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